“At Port Melbourne I was down there until a bit after Christmas and did a lot of training,” he said.

“They didn’t have time to put into me because they had such a big list to pick from and fair enough because I was a fair way behind and still am and need time to get back.

“I trained with Footscray after that for four weeks.

“I was lucky with the opportunities I had.”

Gordon had planned to play in Geelong this year and continue training regularly with Footscray in the hope of joining the VFL ranks in 2015 before Port Adelaide Magpies gave him a chance to fast-track his career.